CNOOC keeps eyes on Tangguh: Analyst

China offshore oil giant CNOOC will use the Indonesian assets of Spanish oil major Repsol-YPF it has agreed to buy as a launching pad to make more deals such as Tangguh, according to a regional energy analyst at Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC).

CNOOC?s recent purchase of Repsol-YPF, for US$585 million in cash, has made it the largest offshore oil producer in Indonesia. CNOODC is listed on Hongkong and New York stock exchanges.

?The deal is a launching pad for CNOOC to go into more gas deals such as Tangguh,? HSBC?s Gordon Kwan was quoted as saying by WorldOil.com.

Tangguh, located in Papua Province, is on a shortlist of three for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply deal for China?s first LNG terminal in the southern province of Guandong.

BP operates the Tangguh project, and is competing with Australia?s Northwest Shelf and Qatar for the supply deal, wich is due to run for at least 20 years from 2006 and deliver three million tons per day of LNG.

Tangguh is Indonesia?s third LNG project, with 14.4 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves. BP Plc owns 50 percent of the project which will pump gas from offshore fields. (*)